Deborah K. Frontiera's Blog
January 6, 2016
Outside the Box
WHAT IF: Bosses and lowest level employees traded places for a day?
Think what kind of empathy, understanding, and appreciation might develop at BOTH ends of the business ladder. Sometimes “Bosses” have started out in the “lower rungs” of the business they work for or own, but if it has been too many years, they may have forgotten what it was like “down there.” This is especially true in larger corporations where managers and upper level staff come out of a college setting and never experience the “bottom rungs” of that ladder.
On the flip side, those who work for an hourly wage may not understand the pressures at the top. They might think it would be “easy” to be “the boss.” They might not realize that their bosses put in long days sometimes, too. They might not have any idea of the problems that come with running a business.
What do you say, people in the business world? How about giving this a try sometime?
Think what kind of empathy, understanding, and appreciation might develop at BOTH ends of the business ladder. Sometimes “Bosses” have started out in the “lower rungs” of the business they work for or own, but if it has been too many years, they may have forgotten what it was like “down there.” This is especially true in larger corporations where managers and upper level staff come out of a college setting and never experience the “bottom rungs” of that ladder.
On the flip side, those who work for an hourly wage may not understand the pressures at the top. They might think it would be “easy” to be “the boss.” They might not realize that their bosses put in long days sometimes, too. They might not have any idea of the problems that come with running a business.
What do you say, people in the business world? How about giving this a try sometime?
December 6, 2015
Outside the Box
Macaroni and Cheese for Breakfast
I babysit my pre-k aged granddaughter at least one and sometimes two days a week. Since she arrives by 6:30 a.m., she has breakfast with me. I offer the usual: cheerios, pancakes, eggs . . . Sometimes she wants to eat part of the sandwich my daughter sends for her lunch. (She wants to have a lunch kit like her big brother.)
So one morning, while I was going through the usual offerings for breakfast, she said, “I want macaroni and cheese.”
“Isn’t that kind of a ‘lunch’ thing, not a ‘breakfast’ thing?” I asked her.
“No, I want macaroni and cheese.”
I started to think: so what makes a breakfast thing a breakfast thing, anyway? What is cheerios but processed grains served with a dairy product? What is macaroni and cheese but processed grains served with dairy product?
She had her macaroni and cheese for breakfast that day.
I babysit my pre-k aged granddaughter at least one and sometimes two days a week. Since she arrives by 6:30 a.m., she has breakfast with me. I offer the usual: cheerios, pancakes, eggs . . . Sometimes she wants to eat part of the sandwich my daughter sends for her lunch. (She wants to have a lunch kit like her big brother.)
So one morning, while I was going through the usual offerings for breakfast, she said, “I want macaroni and cheese.”
“Isn’t that kind of a ‘lunch’ thing, not a ‘breakfast’ thing?” I asked her.
“No, I want macaroni and cheese.”
I started to think: so what makes a breakfast thing a breakfast thing, anyway? What is cheerios but processed grains served with a dairy product? What is macaroni and cheese but processed grains served with dairy product?
She had her macaroni and cheese for breakfast that day.
November 9, 2015
Outside the Box
Eye Contact—Advantages and Disadvantages
Have you ever noticed that making eye contact with someone invites conversation? When you want to speak with someone, you “catch their eye.” When you want to avoid speaking, you look anywhere BUT at their eyes.
A few of examples:
I attend “silent” religious retreats from time to time and find that all retreatants tend to look anywhere but AT other retreatants. It’s just too hard to resist talking once you see someone’s eyes, followed by a smile, followed by . . . oh, that’s right we are not supposed to talk! Especially at meals! We all keep clinking our forks and spoons, staring at the table cloth. At one such retreat, one woman noticed that there was a mother bird feeding her babies in a nest right outside the dining room window. In pantomime, she waved, pointed, waved, pointed. Everyone rushed over to the window to see the sight. But not a word was spoken—that time.
When I’m selling my books at a festival or similar event, I try VERY HARD to catch someone’s eye so I can smile, say, “Hi, how are you today,” and hope they reply so I can invite them to my table to look at my books. People who don’t want to be bothered look ANYWHERE but at me. They look at the floor, look the other way . . . I laugh to myself and tell them to have a nice day. A simple, “No thank you,” would have done the job.
But I catch myself staring intently at the traffic light when there is a person on the corner with a sign, hoping for a handout and I have nothing to give.
How about you? When do you wish people would look toward you? When do you avoid eye contact for any reason?
Have you ever noticed that making eye contact with someone invites conversation? When you want to speak with someone, you “catch their eye.” When you want to avoid speaking, you look anywhere BUT at their eyes.
A few of examples:
I attend “silent” religious retreats from time to time and find that all retreatants tend to look anywhere but AT other retreatants. It’s just too hard to resist talking once you see someone’s eyes, followed by a smile, followed by . . . oh, that’s right we are not supposed to talk! Especially at meals! We all keep clinking our forks and spoons, staring at the table cloth. At one such retreat, one woman noticed that there was a mother bird feeding her babies in a nest right outside the dining room window. In pantomime, she waved, pointed, waved, pointed. Everyone rushed over to the window to see the sight. But not a word was spoken—that time.
When I’m selling my books at a festival or similar event, I try VERY HARD to catch someone’s eye so I can smile, say, “Hi, how are you today,” and hope they reply so I can invite them to my table to look at my books. People who don’t want to be bothered look ANYWHERE but at me. They look at the floor, look the other way . . . I laugh to myself and tell them to have a nice day. A simple, “No thank you,” would have done the job.
But I catch myself staring intently at the traffic light when there is a person on the corner with a sign, hoping for a handout and I have nothing to give.
How about you? When do you wish people would look toward you? When do you avoid eye contact for any reason?
October 13, 2015
Outside the Box Thoughts
Oct. 12, 2015
The Goddess of Planet Bubblelandia
The goddess decided it was time to create Planet Bubblelandia again. She had done it many times before. Bubblelandia, because of its unstable nature, never lasted long, but the goddess enjoyed it all the same. So, she set about to create it once again.
Universe prepared, the goddess stopped up the black hole, let lose a stream of warm, liquid planet surface, and added her bubble-creating elixir. Soon the bubbled surface of her planet began to form. Mountains and valleys of bubbles soon rose on Bubblelandia. On most planets, liquids gather in basins or trenches on the solid land surface. But not Planet Bubblelandia. Here, the mountains, valleys and shores floated upon the planet’s liquid surface.
The goddess immersed herself in her world, settling below the bubble lands and mountains. She sighed in the comfort of her creation, even while she knew that its life would be relatively short because the soft sound of degenerating bubbles was already reaching her ears. No matter. She would enjoy Bubblelandia’s warmth and comfort while it lasted, letting her mind wander to other creations she would later put forth in much more permanent formats.
While the muses played with ideas in the goddess’ mind, she also played with her world. Any movement of hers caused earthquakes on the bubble continent of Pangea. Soon it was not one continent, but several, separated by widening seas. With a breath of wind, she could send bubble islands scooting across the sea, separating them from each other, or helping smaller ones join with larger ones. Slight movements created ocean currents that also changed the face of the lands.
The goddess noticed that forces much older than she ordained that surface tension would draw bubble islands to join with each other to form larger islands, or to latch onto the shore of a larger land form. Indeed, it seemed that tiny bubble islands did not wish to vanish alone, but longed to join themselves to something larger, even to the solid edges of the deep-walled universe. Only when the goddess ceased all movement would bubble islands be marooned in the midst of the ocean to pop into oblivion alone.
The erosion of Bubblelandia continued. Mountains withered into hills. Hills dissolved into plains. Lakes, bays, and peninsulas formed, changed shape, and grew wider. Peninsulas broke apart to form new islands in spite of the force of surface tension. Continents shrank into large islands which continued to dissolve until at last, all the bubbles had disappeared.
The goddess reached out, opened the black hole to suck in the remains of her creation. Evening had become night; the muses had visited. And it was good.
The Goddess of Planet Bubblelandia
The goddess decided it was time to create Planet Bubblelandia again. She had done it many times before. Bubblelandia, because of its unstable nature, never lasted long, but the goddess enjoyed it all the same. So, she set about to create it once again.
Universe prepared, the goddess stopped up the black hole, let lose a stream of warm, liquid planet surface, and added her bubble-creating elixir. Soon the bubbled surface of her planet began to form. Mountains and valleys of bubbles soon rose on Bubblelandia. On most planets, liquids gather in basins or trenches on the solid land surface. But not Planet Bubblelandia. Here, the mountains, valleys and shores floated upon the planet’s liquid surface.
The goddess immersed herself in her world, settling below the bubble lands and mountains. She sighed in the comfort of her creation, even while she knew that its life would be relatively short because the soft sound of degenerating bubbles was already reaching her ears. No matter. She would enjoy Bubblelandia’s warmth and comfort while it lasted, letting her mind wander to other creations she would later put forth in much more permanent formats.
While the muses played with ideas in the goddess’ mind, she also played with her world. Any movement of hers caused earthquakes on the bubble continent of Pangea. Soon it was not one continent, but several, separated by widening seas. With a breath of wind, she could send bubble islands scooting across the sea, separating them from each other, or helping smaller ones join with larger ones. Slight movements created ocean currents that also changed the face of the lands.
The goddess noticed that forces much older than she ordained that surface tension would draw bubble islands to join with each other to form larger islands, or to latch onto the shore of a larger land form. Indeed, it seemed that tiny bubble islands did not wish to vanish alone, but longed to join themselves to something larger, even to the solid edges of the deep-walled universe. Only when the goddess ceased all movement would bubble islands be marooned in the midst of the ocean to pop into oblivion alone.
The erosion of Bubblelandia continued. Mountains withered into hills. Hills dissolved into plains. Lakes, bays, and peninsulas formed, changed shape, and grew wider. Peninsulas broke apart to form new islands in spite of the force of surface tension. Continents shrank into large islands which continued to dissolve until at last, all the bubbles had disappeared.
The goddess reached out, opened the black hole to suck in the remains of her creation. Evening had become night; the muses had visited. And it was good.
September 12, 2015
Ouside the Box Thoughts
Sep. 12, 2015 Those Who Can . . .
The “retired teacher” part of me needed to say this:
A bit over a year ago, I saw a T-shirt with the words:
Those who can, teach.
Those who can’t, pass laws about teaching.
So true, so true. It got me to thinking that there ought to be a law requiring every elected official—from the county clerk to the President of the USA—to spend at least ONE day each year in a classroom, taking the place of the regular teacher, a substitute of sorts. It could be a “random” sort of thing like receiving a summons for jury duty. The elected official would receive a registered letter (to make sure they got it) telling them what public school and classroom in the district of their legal residence to report to on a specific day. The teacher in that classroom would leave plans out, just as they do for other subs.
My bet is that these politicians would act very quickly at the local, state and federal levels to consider and pass laws that would actually HELP rather than HINDER classroom teachers. At present, most laws passed dump more burdens on teachers—most of them unfunded.
I’d also require that they prepare a personal monthly budget based on the salary teachers receive. I’d bet they’d increase teaching salaries dramatically once they have seen how much work teachers do—and not just inside the classroom!
These requirements would apply to candidates, too. Even “The Trump” might learn something form an experience like this.
How about it, folks? Do you agree? Let’s hear from you if you do.
The “retired teacher” part of me needed to say this:
A bit over a year ago, I saw a T-shirt with the words:
Those who can, teach.
Those who can’t, pass laws about teaching.
So true, so true. It got me to thinking that there ought to be a law requiring every elected official—from the county clerk to the President of the USA—to spend at least ONE day each year in a classroom, taking the place of the regular teacher, a substitute of sorts. It could be a “random” sort of thing like receiving a summons for jury duty. The elected official would receive a registered letter (to make sure they got it) telling them what public school and classroom in the district of their legal residence to report to on a specific day. The teacher in that classroom would leave plans out, just as they do for other subs.
My bet is that these politicians would act very quickly at the local, state and federal levels to consider and pass laws that would actually HELP rather than HINDER classroom teachers. At present, most laws passed dump more burdens on teachers—most of them unfunded.
I’d also require that they prepare a personal monthly budget based on the salary teachers receive. I’d bet they’d increase teaching salaries dramatically once they have seen how much work teachers do—and not just inside the classroom!
These requirements would apply to candidates, too. Even “The Trump” might learn something form an experience like this.
How about it, folks? Do you agree? Let’s hear from you if you do.
August 15, 2015
Outside the Box Thoughts
I'm one of those people who have weird thoughts that are entertaining to some. Others just think I'm strange, but in this blog, from time to time, I'll share some of my "outside the box" ideas.
Have you ever wondered how you end up with stray socks in the wash? Sometimes the mates turn up in the next laundry cycle. Sometimes the strays stay in a basket or bag for years, their mates never turning up.
Where do those missing socks go?
My theory is that they metamorphose into wire hangers that seem to multiply in the closet. How they do this is a mystery, but I always seem to have wire hangers appear not long after socks disappear.
Your Outside the Box Thinker,
Deborah K. Frontiera
www.authorsden.com/deborahkfrontiera
Have you ever wondered how you end up with stray socks in the wash? Sometimes the mates turn up in the next laundry cycle. Sometimes the strays stay in a basket or bag for years, their mates never turning up.
Where do those missing socks go?
My theory is that they metamorphose into wire hangers that seem to multiply in the closet. How they do this is a mystery, but I always seem to have wire hangers appear not long after socks disappear.
Your Outside the Box Thinker,
Deborah K. Frontiera
www.authorsden.com/deborahkfrontiera
